By the lake's edge
by willowbabe
Summary: Hermione runs to the lake after another arguement with Ron. He tries to console her.


Author's Note: Fluff, Fluff and more fluff. R/H, in their sixth year. To my beta readers, u know who you are by now. Please reveiw at the end. And I'd appreciate constructive flames.  
  
Disclaimers: If you recognise it, be proud. Don't sue me. I don't have much. JK Rowling Rocks!  
  
  
  
By the lake's edge  
  
I wandered down to sit by the frozen lake. I had just had another argument with Hermione and needed to calm down. During the summer between my fourth and fifth year I had learned to control my anger fairly well. Whenever I feel it's gonna get the better of me I just go and sit on my own for a bit. I figure that with you-know-who back and Harry being his prime target, it would be better if I'm not always arguing with everyone.  
It was the last hogsmeade weekend before christmas, so a lot of the students were down at the village. I wasn't however. Because the NEWTs were coming up, Hermione was making me stay behind.  
  
"How come you let Harry go?" I whined as I watched the carriages leave and head towards Hogsmeade. How I longed to be in those carriages, with Harry. Talking about what we were going to buy in Zonko's and how many sweets we could get from honeydukes before our money ran out. Also I wanted to be there to keep an eye on him and Ginny. They had been getting very close recently and I had a feeling there was something going on that they were trying to keep secret.  
"Because Harry doesn't get his floating charms mixed up!" Hermione snapped "Now come on!" she herded me off to get my books and marched me down to a spare classroom that the professors had said the fifth years could use to practice for their exams.  
We had been practicing for about an hour and we had still not gotten anywhere. My floating charms consisted of the feather we were using to practice, jumping three inches into the air then falling back down again.  
"Ugh! I give up! I've had enough! I'm never going to get the hang of this!" I threw my hands up in defeat and my wand dropped to the floor.  
"Ron. If you give up now then you'll never get it." said Hermione calmly "Now take a deep breath and try again. Concentrate this time."  
"I was concentrating!" I replied indignantly.  
"Of course you were. Now start practicing!" Hermione placed my wand back in my hand and turned to stare out the window.  
"I might concentrate better if you weren't always staring out the window." I muttered.  
"Pardon?" she replied airily.  
"Nothing." I looked at her, confused. She was gazing dreamily out of the window and I thought she looked a lot like Parvati or Lavender when Dean or Seamus aren't around. Oh that's it. Hermione's in Love. That didn't sound right. The only person Hermione had been interested in that I could remember was Victor bloody Krum (I did not want to talk about him again - Hermione wouldn't speak to me for 2 months after my last rant) and this was completely different to how she was then. With Krum it was as if she liked him, but only as a friend, and she was too kind to hurt his feelings. Now it was as if she was living in her dream world that consisted of only her and him (whoever he was).   
"What you looking at?" I asked casually as I strolled over to lean out of the window too.  
"Huh? What? Oh, nothing. I was just thinking." She grinned at me, her eyes still glazed over.  
"Like you don't do that often." I rolled my eyes and she giggled gently. "So what were you thinking about? Or should I say, who were you thinking about?" I grinned back smugly.  
"Wha… How did you guess?" she looked at me in surprise.  
"Well, for one, you keep gazing out of the window with a really dreamy expression on your face, which I have to say looks a lot like Lavender's when she's with Seamus. Two, you've been patient with me all day even though I would normally be rubbing my cheek after a slap, by now. Three, you haven't commented once on the fact that my feather is floating above your head." Hermione looked up only to have a feather land on her nose, "And finally, you have this cute little grin on your face that's been there for ages, and won't seem to go away, no matter how hard I try."   
"Shut up and go practice your charms." She pushed me away, giggling.  
"Fine! Nice to know when I'm wanted." I said as I walked back over to get a heavier object. "So do you know what Harry and Ginny are gonna do today at Hogsmeade?" With Hermione in such a ditzy mood, I thought that I might as well make the most out of it.  
"Well, it's their first date so Harry wouldn't tell me much but…."  
"What?! First date?! Since when have my sister and my best friend been dating? How dare he?"  
Hermione clapped her hands over her mouth, as she realized what she had just said. Then she turned to me, her face angry.  
"He dares, as you put it, because he's got guts, and because he and Ginny like each other. He's felt this way for a while now but he didn't tell you because he knew you'd react this way. He knew you'd act like a jerk."  
"I'm not acting like a jerk." I retorted.  
"No you're right. You're not acting like a jerk. You are a jerk!" Hermione glared at me.  
"Well I'd rather be a jerk than a bossy little know-it-all like you." Our eyes met and as we held that gaze, I was sure she was about to hit me. All of a sudden she burst into tears and ran out of the room. I stood there for a moment, shocked. Then I found my brain and followed her.  
"Hermione!" I yelled "Hermione, wait up!" But she just kept on running.  
  
Which is why I ended up by the lake. I needed to calm down. I had tried to find her, but everywhere I looked, she wasn't. I didn't mean to say half the things I said, but I did, and now I had to find a way to apologize. I laid down so that I would be able to see the clouds. After a while I realized that someone else was nearby. I could hear them mumbling.  
"I hate him. I do. Hate him. He ruins my life. He always winds me up, and then he insults me. He never does his homework, then always asks me to help him. He never brushes his hair and his deodorant is just awful! I do! I hate him!"   
I walked towards some bushes. The voice seemed to be coming from behind them. As I parted them and looked through, I saw Hermione. She was sitting next to the lake, huddled in a ball. Clutching her lugs she rocked gently forwards and back.  
"But I love him! He's so sweet and gentle. He doesn't mean what he says. He's always there when I need him and he's defiantly a loyal friend. He wouldn't do anything to hurt me on purpose. And he's good looking too. Although he thinks he's not. He never notices me though." she wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh, I love him so much. Why can't he love me back?"  
"Hey!" I said as I clambered through the bushes. She raised her head and a shocked look appeared on her face.  
"What are you doing here?" she asked as I sat down next to her. I picked up a stone and threw it across the iced over lake.  
"I could ask you the same thing." I replied, "Actually I was chasing after you, but you were too fast so I came here to calm down, and think about how to apologise." I picked up another stone and threw it across the lake.  
"Oh," she murmured. She brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and I thought about how beautiful she looked at that moment. "So how did you find me?"  
"I heard you talking. I followed your voice and it led me to here."  
"How much did you hear?" she looked at me, anxiously.  
"Um, from about when you were commenting on how much you hate him and how he ruins your life. Whoever he is." She buried her head in her hands.  
"Oh god, you heard that much!" she moaned.  
"Don't worry, I won't say anything." I comforted, trying to cheer her up. "If you ask me he seems like a bit of a jerk. Always insulting you, never doing his homework. And how stupid is he? I mean, if he hasn't even noticed you, then he must be pretty thick. You're like the most gorgeous girl in the school. He must be mad not to realise that." Hermione blushed and gave a small giggle. I wrapped a friendly arm around her. We both looked out towards the lake.  
"I was talking about you, Ron!" she whispered.  
"What?" I asked, absent-mindedly.  
"I love you, Ron Weasley." I snapped back into it, instantly. I sat there, gobsmacked. Hermione loves me? Me? Not Victor bloody Krum? Not Harry? Common, boring me? Why would someone who could have any boy she wanted in the whole school, a girl who has both brains and beauty, want me? It was then that I realised my feelings for her were more than platonic. But it was too late.  
"I'm sorry. I know you wouldn't want to go out with a know-it-all like me. Just forget everything I said. I know I will." She stood up and started walking glumly towards the castle. My brain was telling me to chase after her but my legs weren't obeying. I tried my voice.  
"Hermione!" I called. "Hermione!" My legs started obeying me again and I made it to her in record time. She kept on walking, so I pulled her to a stop. She hung her head low and stared intensely at the ground.  
"Look Ron, forget about what I just said. We can just go back to life as normal, okay? Just friends, nothing else. I'm not likely to go and tell anyone, am I?"  
"That's not it. I can't forget it. I don't want to." She raised her head and looked at me, her eyes filled with tears. I smiled at her. "I love you too."   
It took a while to sink in. And then slowly, a smile appeared on her face. I bent my head down and tilted hers up slightly. Gently our lips brushed. I felt like singing. The feelings that I had submerged for so long came rushing out as I deepened the kiss. We broke apart and I grinned sheepishly at her. She grinned right back. She flung her arms around me and rested her head on my shoulder. I rested my head on hers.  
"It took us way too long." She murmured.  
"Yeah, lets hope it doesn't take Harry and Ginny this long." I agreed. She looked up at me and tilted her head questioningly.  
"I thought you didn't want them together."  
"Nah, I don't really care about them. I just wanted to wind you up." I dodged a hit. "Hey, I don't know why you're offended. I'm the one whose been insulted. And what's wrong with my deodorant?" I pulled her towards me and wrapped her in a hug.  
"It really is awful." She winced.  
"I'll let you get a long whiff of it then." I said as I bent down for another kiss.  
  
Finite  
  
  
Please Review. Tell me how I can Improve. I will listen. Honest!   



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